Nine to include Packer-Murdoch series in 2013 schedule

Southern Star, the same company that made Howzat! Kerry Packer’s War (above) , will produce Power Games: The Packer-Murdoch Story
Photo: Effi Cohen

by
Ben Holgate

The Nine Network is building on its
Kerry Packer
franchise with a two-part miniseries dramatising the media wars between the Packer family and
Rupert Murdoch
in the 1960s and early 1970s as part of its 2013 programming schedule.

Called Power Games: The Packer-Murdoch Story, the two episodes, which each run for two hours, will look at the battles waged between Sir Frank Packer and his sons Kerry and Clyde with the young Mr Murdoch in the Australian newspaper and television industries.

“It’s the story of the two families," said Nine’s director of television, Michael Healy.

“It’s a story about their achievements, their successes, the times they came together and the times they were at odds."

The miniseries will be produced by Southern Star, the same company that made Howzat! Kerry Packer’s War, about the late media baron’s fight to establish World Series cricket that proved a ratings hit for Nine earlier this year.

Nine’s group sales and marketing director,
Peter Wiltshire
, speaking at the network’s launch of its 2013 schedule in Sydney on Tuesday morning, said the programming strategy was focused on holding viewers from 7pm into the evening.

“The theme is 7 o’clock, big entertainment formats. Everything else around it supports it either by a stunt or by consistency behind those big entertainment programs," he said.

Nine is relying on the return of its weeknight early evening shows like The Voice, The Block, which will have an All Stars spin-off in addition to the main series, Big Brother and The Celebrity Apprentice to achieve this.

Amid its drama slate, Nine will debut an eight-hour series Gallipoli about the failed World War One military campaign, a remake of the miniseries Return To Eden, and a two-hour biopic of convicted Bali drug-dealer Schapelle Corby called Schapelle.

As previously disclosed, Nine has also picked up Australia’s Got Talent from Seven.

Mr Healy said the network was also developing two other dramas which might be broadcast in the second half of 2013.

Mr Wiltshire said 2012 was “the best year this network has had for over a decade."

Nine looks set to win by a whisker the 25-54 demographic across all channels for the official TV ratings season, which ends on Saturday, finally mounting a challenge to Seven’s six-year dominance in TV ratings.

However, Seven is likely to win the year among 24-54s on the main channel and among all people across the multiple channels.

“Stability is really important." said Mr Wiltshire. “We’ve been inconsistently good for five years."

The network’s parent company, Nine Entertainment Co, plans to leverage its events business, which includes Ticketek, by arranging more live events next year.